Google Slammed with €50 Million GDPR Fine

Google hit with 50 million Euro fine by CNIL for two GDPR breaches, the first of what could be many for those not protecting people's data.

GDPR caused much uncertainty across Europe in 2018 as businesses worried about facing huge fines for not being fully compliant with the new data regulation that was enforced in May.

Google has just been hit with a substantial €50m (£44.1m) fine by the French data regulator CNIL for two GDPR breaches, setting an air of uncertainty for the tech giant. Simply put, the search engine did not give users enough control over how their data was used in line with personalised advertising. CNIL also found that some of Google’s descriptions of their data processing methods were too vague or unclear.

In a statement, Google said: "People expect high standards of transparency and control from us. We're deeply committed to meeting those expectations and the consent requirements of the GDPR."

According to the Daily Mail, Google is worth $110.8 billion, so it is apparent that €50m won’t leave more than a subtle sting to the companies cashflow, however the fine comes as a warning of things to come for many businesses.

Worries are that this is just the first raft of fines from CNIL and the due extent of data breaches is just around the corner, while not all the companies hit will have the disposable cash to pay off these fines and many tech companies face uncertain times.

It is likely that the over the next few weeks we could see a flurry of fines dished out, keep your eyes peeled. Are you fully compliant?